news

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) released the following statement today on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

"Early reports indicate that this agreement is a bad deal for the working men and women of the American auto industry and for many other sectors of the U.S. economy. The negotiators' cloak and dagger approach has resulted in Members of Congress and the public being forced to operate on hearsay – not facts – because to date, we have been unable to access the secret web of side agreements and backroom deals that are associated with the latest rounds of negotiations. 
 
"Congress made it clear earlier this year that it is mandatory the Administration provide the Members of Congress and the public with full access to the secret side agreements when they release the text of the main agreement, and we will fight to make sure that requirement is upheld. All impacted parties must have an opportunity to analyze this wide reaching deal and clearly understand the potential impact on every sector. If necessary, we will introduce bipartisan legislation to ensure this occurs.

“It also appears that currency manipulation has not been adequately addressed within the TPP agreement. Currency manipulation – the mother of all trade barriers – has cost 5 million hardworking Americans the opportunity to earn a decent living over the last decades, and nothing that we have heard indicates negotiators sufficiently addressed these issues. The history of side deals in past trade agreements prove they are utterly useless, and we should expect no different in a side agreement on currency. After months of bipartisan urging of the administration to include strong, enforceable currency provisions, their absence in the full text of the agreement makes this a failure for American workers and businesses. We will work with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do everything possible between now and the time Congress votes on this agreement to fight the devastating impact of this deal.”